


A Rose By Any Other Name

by intermediacy



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 10:58:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9120682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intermediacy/pseuds/intermediacy
Summary: He was Romeo and she was Juliet, but without the death at the end of their story.





	

  
_"For never was a story of more woe  
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."_

William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, 5.3

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_______________________________________________

He was Romeo and she was Juliet, but without the death at the end of their story. (Well, not the _eternal_ death. More the _undead vampire_ death.) She was what he'd been looking for; the missing piece in his broken life, empty and worthless without her. His heart was hers, and she claimed that it was the same for her. He had taken her life, taken the one thing that made her entirely human, and she was his forever - an eternity of love, of companionship, of _You're the only one for me, Bella_ and _I love you, Edward_. It should've been enough for her, but she felt empty. Not like when he left; not the aching, agonizing, trying-to-kill-herself empty, but she felt a dull ache, a missing piece. _It's just your humanity slipping away_ , Edward said, brushing back her brown tresses. _You'll feel better in a few months, once you've gotten control of your urges_.

But she knew he was wrong, that it had nothing to do with her bloodlust. Sure, she wanted to kill every human she smelt. Sure, she wanted to snap the neck of innocent people just to taste their crimson life rushing over her tongue, the one thing that used to make her ill now one of the few things she craved. The taste no longer bitter and copper but sweet, full of flavor, just like she remembered steaks and fish and milkshakes. The deer and the mountain lion, they were enough - would be enough - to curb her appetite. But it wasn't enough to fill that missing piece, that empty spot where her heart used to be.

She found that pieces of herself were falling away. She stopped falling as much, stopped feeling like she didn't belong anywhere - with the Cullens was where she always belonged, there attached to Edward's hip, his arm around her waist and a smile on her face. It felt forced, though, and she wasn't sure why. She started running without him, hunting off his schedule, doing anything she could without him and they both began to feel the strain on their relationship.

Years later they were fighting constantly, quietly away from ears that could hear the smallest whisper on the wind. They stayed away from their meadow; he never even played baseball anymore. He couldn't take it and walked out, going to Alaska to clear his head. She could feel herself falling apart, the stone she'd turned into wanting to crumble to pieces. He was the glue that held her together, but she didn't want it anymore. 

Alice left a few days later, worried about a vision she'd seen, saying she wanted to keep an eye on Edward. No one bothered to ask why Bella didn't go, or at least go with, but they all wanted to know. She could feel it, even if she didn't have Jasper's abilities. She could see the slight glimmer of disapproval in Esme and Carlisle's golden eyes, the way Emmett didn't play around with her as much (not that she'd been in the mood to play for a long time) and Rosalie was colder towards her than normal. Jasper was the only one who treated her like nothing had changed, and she wondered if maybe he knew how she felt. Not just because he could feel it, but maybe because he himself felt the same way with Alice gone.

She found herself in Mercutio's bed a few days before Romeo was supposed to be home, naked and cold. (She was always cold, but she could feel her lack-of-heart turning to ice as they kissed one last time, Jasper falling to the floor beside her.) She wasn't supposed to be this way, to be this angry and unhappy, but when Jasper's lips ghosted over hers, she gave in. She fell, landing face first in a messy situation that she had no desire to claw her way out of. It was sudden, unexpected, definitely not something she would do, and she figured that was why it felt so great. 

Bella always wondered about the chances she missed out on, the possibility of love before Edward. (Aside from Jacob, which was its own complicated mess. She can still remember the way her heart - still human then - broke at the sight of his empty, cold eyes. How he walked away, head held high as the tears streamed down both their faces. The last time she'd ever see him, the memory burned into her perfect mind, mixing in with the laughter and the happy tears of her wedding.) But Jasper, when he wrapped his arms around her as they rested in his room (she longed for a bed), she felt her body tense. Had she had a heart, it would've raced and her cheeks, had she had blood, would've flushed a deep scarlet. She settled for the absence of butterflies in her stomach, remembering how it could've felt, and turned to face him.

"What do we do now?"


End file.
